RC-N1 losing connection with Mini 2

[Honk]

Hello comrades. I wish you all a healthy and happy new year.

I need some help, please. A big thank you in advance. I'm flying a Mini 2 I rec'vd in March this year, 2023. It is a replacement for a within-warranty faulty Mini 2.

I have not updated its firmware 01.03.0500 nor the DJI Fly app since 1.9.4
I figure, since it has been performing just fine (until now), those versions are not playing a part with my issue. Am I figuring incorrectly there?

At any rate, the drone has flown just fine until today. Since I hadn't flow it since 11.26.23 and I am taking it with me on a trip tomorrow, I brought out the drone for a checkup before I pack it. I was in my yard just hovering about 3 ft. away and abv and 3 ft. dist the RC-N1 controller. I was watching the drone for a bit then took a look at the screen and saw an alert notice just blinking off about signal btwn controller and drone failing. Very soon got a message about lost connection and an RTH was initiated. I was able to gain control and land. I turned off the RC and drone. Then re-started everything and did 2 more tests and it pretty quickly lost connection again both times. Each time I'm standing just below and off to the side. Should be a strong signal.

I don't know if the flight log will show anything beyond marking each event as it happened, but here is a link;

DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help

Upload and view flight logs from your DJI drones

www.phantomhelp.com

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

"I rec'vd in March this year, 2023"
Paaagh you are flying a 'last year's' drone lol.

Re your story.
Yuck.
If you download and open the csv I think the relevant column is entitled "RC.downlinkSignal". the down link is ...... crap after 33.5 seconds and it lost connection at 33.6 seconds.
As I understand the manual, the drone will brake and hover for 11 seconds, if connection is not re-established it will then initiate the "Failsafe" behaviour, which was "Go Home". That means it would normally start to 'reverse' along the inbound flight path, however, given the distance from the home point, 12ft ( inside the 20m threshold ) I think it is meant to NOT do the retrace but rather fly straight towards the home point at its current height.
If I am correct then the behaviour of your drone appears to be at odds with this.

It starts at climb at 49.2 sec, ( VPS height 6.8ft baro 1.3ft ), you closed the throttle at 49.6 sec ( VPS height 8.2ft baro 2.6ft ) yet it continued to climb, until possibly around 55.5 sec ( VPS height 13.7 baro 12ft ).
I might be looking with a magnifying glass but if I understand the manual correctly I am puzzled by the climb.

If you HAVE NOT yet synced your logs with DJI .... DO NOT. Instead copy the txt flight log and ALL the logs in the MCDatFlightRecords folder to your computer etc.. There should be .DAT flight logs in the MCDatFlightrecords folder but if you have sync'ed they will have been deleted.

If others agree that the climb is puzzling then it might be an idea to contact DJI and give them a copy of the .txt and relevant .DAT flight logs, the relevant DAT's name will contain "FLY084"

 

[Honk]

Thank you very much Yorkshire_Pud.
>>'last year's' drone


I did have sync on but I turned it off (because I see you frequently advising this) when I came in to collect data for Phantom-Help. There was one .DAT file with yesterday's date. Thats good. Incidentally/FYI, the file name contains "FLY086"

The climb: The drone did change direction by its self and then I saw a message about returning home or going home. So first, since there was no connection, I'm guessing it was climbing to my set height for RTH. Then the RC-N1 suddenly connected to the drone and I was able to control it.

Unfortunately, I'm heading out on my trip right now. Bringing the drone, though I probably can't fly it confidently. We'll see how it plays out. Thanks again. Cheers!

​

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

I'm guessing it was climbing to my set height for RTH.

Given the distance from the home point, 12ft, I think the drone should NOT have climbed to RTH height but should return at its current height, or at least that is my unnderstanding of the following passage from the v1.4 manual.
"When the firmware is updated to v1.1.0.0 and above, the aircraft will fly backwards for 50 m on its
.......... When the aircraft flies backwards along the original flight path and the distance from the Home Point is less than 20 m, the aircraft stops flying backward on the original flight route and enters Straight Line RTH at the current
altitude."

Fly086 is from two drone switch ons after the 2023-12-31_[15-27-37] flight.

If never tested mini failsafe behaviour within 20m of the home point unless it was actually over the home point so I have not seen what it would do at a distance of 12ft but it could be quite scary I think especially if it was low and there were kids about.

 

[WanderLost]

Hello comrades. I wish you all a healthy and happy new year.

I need some help, please. A big thank you in advance. I'm flying a Mini 2 I rec'vd in March this year, 2023. It is a replacement for a within-warranty faulty Mini 2.

I have not updated its firmware 01.03.0500 nor the DJI Fly app since 1.9.4
I figure, since it has been performing just fine (until now), those versions are not playing a part with my issue. Am I figuring incorrectly there?

At any rate, the drone has flown just fine until today. Since I hadn't flow it since 11.26.23 and I am taking it with me on a trip tomorrow, I brought out the drone for a checkup before I pack it. I was in my yard just hovering about 3 ft. away and abv and 3 ft. dist the RC-N1 controller. I was watching the drone for a bit then took a look at the screen and saw an alert notice just blinking off about signal btwn controller and drone failing. Very soon got a message about lost connection and an RTH was initiated. I was able to gain control and land. I turned off the RC and drone. Then re-started everything and did 2 more tests and it pretty quickly lost connection again both times. Each time I'm standing just below and off to the side. Should be a strong signal.

I don't know if the flight log will show anything beyond marking each event as it happened, but here is a link;

DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help

Upload and view flight logs from your DJI drones

www.phantomhelp.com

Is it possible you have a faulty data cable between the controller and your phone/tablet? I could see that causing all kinds of interesting intermittent issues and failed commands.

 

[Honk]

Is it possible you have a faulty data cable between the controller and your phone/tablet? I could see that causing all kinds of interesting intermittent issues and failed commands.

Thank you Wanderlost. That is a possibility. I'll check that out. I have found the cable slightly dislodged before. Hopefully that is the case and my issue clears up. Good thinking. I'll check back in once I check my cable. Cheers.

 

[WanderLost]

Thank you Wanderlost. That is a possibility. I'll check that out. I have found the cable slightly dislodged before. Hopefully that is the case and my issue clears up. Good thinking. I'll check back in once I check my cable. Cheers.

Hope that's the issue. I've bought and used this one successfully with my RC-N1. It's short length is very convenient. If you're using an Apple iphone or tablet:

Amazon.com

 

[Honk]

Fly086 is from two drone switch ons after the 2023-12-31_[15-27-37] flight.

Y_P...Thank you. You're right. I flew 3 times. The txt file I posted was the 1st flight. The only DAT file I have is the 3rd flight. When I went to collect the flight records and finally turned off sync, the 1st 2 DAT files must have already disappeared. I'll be keeping sync off from now on until necessary.

And thank you Wlost. Alas, I have Android. Both ends are USB-C. But still, a good call to consider the cable. See below:

So, I played with the cable as-is to look for a short, checked to make sure the ends were inserted completely, rotated the USB-C ends, all bad connections. Then I switched cable ends to ports. There! it stayed connected. Then to check, I switched back to the original setup, and it stayed connected. I think there simply may have been some debris in the phone's port fouling the connection that finally cleared out. Hah! I'll check again tomorrow. Hope that's it.

 

[Honk]

Very brief status report: won't be able to conduct a safe test until Saturday. I'll post soon after.

Thanks again.

 

[Honk]

Hello again. I finally had an opportunity to confirm whether or not I have a connection issue, a coupla days ago. Yes, I do still have the issue, and apparently it does not involve the the data cable between the RC and the phone/tablet. The problem is inconclusive at this point. Thanks very much for all your input. I'll be contacting DJI to resolve.

Cheers!

 

[Felix le Chat]

Hello again. I finally had an opportunity to confirm whether or not I have a connection issue, a coupla days ago. Yes, I do still have the issue, and apparently it does not involve the the data cable between the RC and the phone/tablet. The problem is inconclusive at this point. Thanks very much for all your input. I'll be contacting DJI to resolve.

Cheers!

Main menu.
Transmission tab.
Tap the 'dual' box and manually select 5.8.
Give it a test flight to see if this gives you a stable control signal.
Now manually select 2.4 and try the test again. Does the command & control signal drop out?
Humour me.

 

[Honk]

Now manually select 2.4 and try the test again. Does the command & control signal drop out?
Humour me.

Thanks Felix le Chat, very much for your input.

Well!...very interesting...this should be valuable in the troubleshooting process with DJI.

The drone has always been set at dual, figuring the software will be able to pick the most appropriate frequency.

The Test: Its raining so I'm in my office, at my desk, with the drone and RC right next to each other, turned on and 5-bars connected. When I just turn around and take a step away, the signal begins to deteriorate.

First, I manually selected 5.8.
The signal remained in a deteriorating state, down to 1-bar at 10 ft away.

Then I select 2.4 and the signal becomes 5-bars strong and remains strong, even as I walk through my little house and up 13 stairs to the next floor.

I've switched back and forth repeatedly between the 2 frequencies and get the same result.

Somewhere, there seems to be a problem with the 5.8 GHz, either RC or drone, rendering it unusable.

Oh well. We'll see how things go resolving the issue with DJI. I've had this drone since February 2023 (a NEW replacement for a within-warranty faulty Mini 2) without experiencing this issue until 12.31.23. The drone itself is less than a year old though the original purchase warranty is expired. Don't want to use my Care Refresh if it wasn't my fault. We'll see.

Alright (sort of). Thanks again.

 

[Felix le Chat]

Thanks Felix le Chat, very much for your input.

Well!...very interesting...this should be valuable in the troubleshooting process with DJI.

The drone has always been set at dual, figuring the software will be able to pick the most appropriate frequency.

The Test: Its raining so I'm in my office, at my desk, with the drone and RC right next to each other, turned on and 5-bars connected. When I just turn around and take a step away, the signal begins to deteriorate.

First, I manually selected 5.8.
The signal remained in a deteriorating state, down to 1-bar at 10 ft away.

Then I select 2.4 and the signal becomes 5-bars strong and remains strong, even as I walk through my little house and up 13 stairs to the next floor.

I've switched back and forth repeatedly between the 2 frequencies and get the same result.

Somewhere, there seems to be a problem with the 5.8 GHz, either RC or drone, rendering it unusable.

Oh well. We'll see how things go resolving the issue with DJI. I've had this drone since February 2023 (a NEW replacement for a within-warranty faulty Mini 2) without experiencing this issue until 12.31.23. The drone itself is less than a year old though the original purchase warranty is expired. Don't want to use my Care Refresh if it wasn't my fault. We'll see.

Alright (sort of). Thanks again.

Interesting. This isn't the first time I've noticed a hinky control frequency being reported, although this is a first for the 5.8gHz.... it seems to be more common with drones using Ocusync 2 and most reports are dropouts on 2.4gHz.

 

[0Kajuna0]

Thanks Felix le Chat, very much for your input.

Well!...very interesting...this should be valuable in the troubleshooting process with DJI.

The drone has always been set at dual, figuring the software will be able to pick the most appropriate frequency.

The Test: Its raining so I'm in my office, at my desk, with the drone and RC right next to each other, turned on and 5-bars connected. When I just turn around and take a step away, the signal begins to deteriorate.

First, I manually selected 5.8.
The signal remained in a deteriorating state, down to 1-bar at 10 ft away.

Then I select 2.4 and the signal becomes 5-bars strong and remains strong, even as I walk through my little house and up 13 stairs to the next floor.

I've switched back and forth repeatedly between the 2 frequencies and get the same result.

Somewhere, there seems to be a problem with the 5.8 GHz, either RC or drone, rendering it unusable.

Oh well. We'll see how things go resolving the issue with DJI. I've had this drone since February 2023 (a NEW replacement for a within-warranty faulty Mini 2) without experiencing this issue until 12.31.23. The drone itself is less than a year old though the original purchase warranty is expired. Don't want to use my Care Refresh if it wasn't my fault. We'll see.

Alright (sort of). Thanks again.

Hi. Did DJI provide any insight or troubleshooting? I'm seeing the same issue. The drone had flown flawlessly since 2020, then last month I lost the connection on a flight, about 50-80 meters away from me. Today I tested it again and the connection drops to zero at 5 or 6 meters. If I switch to 2.4 the connection is rock solid, with 5.8 it's lost when I walk a few meters away, with the drone on the ground. This is also with a Mini 2.

Thanks

 

[Honk]

Hello @0Kajuna0. I have not conversed directly with DJI yet. I did read some where, either here or at the official DJI Forum that many people are experiencing this with the Mini 2, and the phrase I recall (sorry, I don't remember precisely where) that the 5.8 MHz "chip" is failing. @Felix le Chat's test illuminated the work-around, however, it is not satisfactory to be flying with a drone that has a main function malfunctioning. I will be filing a repair request soon, and since I am within my 2 Year DJI Care Refresh extended warranty, I expect they will repair or replace the drone.

Here's wishing good stuff to yuh. Cheers.